Beauties meet brawn
SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY
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Zee Sports has shaped up a team of cheerleaders to draw the crowds to football stadia.
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ALL FOR A SPORTY SPIRIT The seven Zeebra girls before the start of the India-Yemen football match in New Delhi.
We have seen the pit girls in motor racing, though, much to the lament of many, these glamorous dolls are only seen either on TV screens or newspaper pages, in this part of the world. And if the Schumachers and Hannekens are important for the racing circuit, these girls too, mind you, have no less a necessary job to do on the tracks. They have to draw the crowd to the venue with well-practiced tricks and of course, add a dash of allure to the sport in the process.
And now, right amidst us arrive the Zeebra girls. Not to cheer up the crowd along a racing track but to root for our very own football team at the stadiums. A concept worked out by Zee Sports along with the expertise of ace choreographer Shiamak Davar, the first big platform for this seven-member cheerleader team was the India-Yemen match that concluded the other day in New Delhi.
Says Gaurav Seth, Vice President, Marketing, Zee Sports, "The team danced to a special medley made for the match. Though they had taken part in a few football matches earlier, this one was the first international match in which they cheered for the Indian team." Also, it was the first time they used the tri-colours as sashes.
Tight tops and high boots
Attired in black and white zebra patterned short skirts and body-hugging tops with high boots of the same pattern, and shaking the blood-red tassels with both hands to the music, these smiling seven have surely managed quite a bit of interest in the India-Yemen match."But the idea is to attract more and more crowd to the stadiums to watch football. Look at cricket for instance. Though it has been a big hit among most Indians, the galleries always go empty during the test matches. People prefer to see these matches on TV," says Gaurav. Also, now that "cricket has reached a saturation point" and more and more people are switching to new sports like golf, tennis, etc., Zee Sports wants to back Indian football by not only covering the football matches in a big way but also trying to revive the game through various marketing tactics — one of which is the launch of the Zeebra girls. "Football has two ready advantages, it is an inexpensive game and is easily accessible to all," he says.
"As part of the plans, these girls will cheer the crowd wherever there is a football match played by India. Even in the domestic league like the National Football League to be held in Goa, they will very much be there," he confirms. Also, they will do a lot of road shows, promotional activities in various pubs and cinema halls across the cities to drum up support for football.
And be it Yashna Lalla, Divya Singh, Karuna Iyer, Aruna Kadge, Dimple Kotecha, Komal Sharma or Hansika Biscuitwalla, all of these bright and breezy beauties are dance teachers at various schools run by Shiamak Davar in Mumbai.
"Dancing is not new to us, but what is novel here is to attract attention not to yourself through your dance moves but to keep people hooked to the game. But it is fun," sums up a team member.
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